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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23159827">La Nuit de l'Angoisse</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account'>orphan_account</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Vampire AU-Second Storyline [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Figure Skating RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>A LOT of Angst, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Angst, Gen, Sorry I have to question Deniss's cooking, uncertainties</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 12:07:13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,564</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23159827</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Deniss cooked for everyone before Shoma’s departure from Champéry, but something unexpected happened at night.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Vampire AU-Second Storyline [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1895323</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>La Nuit de l'Angoisse</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I wrote this in two hours (and of course, without proofreading because I can't bring myself to read it again) because I’m too anxious about everything around me (UK govt what are you doing), and also about the skaters’ training, health and safety.<br/>The plot has nothing to do with reality, nor do I want it to. Everyone please stay safe.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Shoma had finished packing his luggage when the smell of sweet buttery pastry started to diffuse through the whole house. He didn’t bother to check everything against his packing list, since it just wasn’t his way of doing things. A lot of his friends joked around this, saying that it was surely a miracle that he could survive up to now. But he knew what’s the most important, and he will never forget those. Nor did he need a list to remember these.</p><p>He was scheduled to leave Champéry tomorrow. They’ve arranged a different route, without bypassing Austria. After what happened on Shoma’s way here, Austria is no longer safe. Instead, he will go via Northern Italy, then Slovenia and Ukraine to St. Petersburg to meet Elizaveta, where he’ll cross Russia again.</p><p>Deniss was cooking dinner for them. Shoma found it intriguing that Deniss didn’t really eat regular food-of course, as a real vampire, human food couldn’t sustain him-but he was really a good cook. Both Koshiro and himself liked Deniss’s cooking, despite the fact that what he made is always very different from the Japanese cuisine they were used to. Even Stéphane loved his cooking when he was still a human.</p><p>“Dinner is served!” Deniss shouted from the kitchen, “Come down in five minutes, or I’ll refuse to do the dishes tonight!”</p><p>Shoma smiled and went downstairs. To his surprise, he was the last one to get into the dining room. Stéphane was discussing something with Koshiro, which he could only understand that it was about his travel arrangements. Deniss was plating their main course and drizzling some sauce onto the steak, and Matilda was sitting there, seemingly meditating on something.</p><p>“Stéph?” Deniss turned to the table with a bottle of wine in hand, “Do you think I should get some synthetic blood for us instead of wine?”</p><p>“Urgh, not for me, mon cher.” Stéphane whined, “I know they look similar enough, and you can have blood if you want to. But I…no.”</p><p>Deniss laughed and served the table. Shoma silently sighed when he saw that it was a steak with a salad on the side for most of them. Deniss had a bowl of red liquid sprinkled with some green herbs in front of him (Shoma tried not to think why he chose to have his synthetic blood this way), and Stéphane had half a portion of steak drizzled with a red sauce, probably also made from synthetic blood. Deniss really could cater to all dietary needs.</p><p>Stéphane opened the bottle of red wine and poured it into five glasses. They raised their glass and Stéphane smiled, “Santé.”</p><p>“Santé.” All other people, except Shoma, followed Stéphane before taking a sip of their wine.</p><p>“What was that?” Shoma asked Koshiro in a low voice, “Not English, right?” He didn’t really think his English was that bad.</p><p>Koshiro whispered in Japanese, “No. It’s the French word to take a toast, and it literally means ‘health’.” He smiled, “It’s really appropriate for now. I know you don’t leave until tomorrow afternoon, but still, have a safe trip back home.”</p><p>Shoma took a bite of his steak. It was well-cooked, and the sauce was definitely unconventional, but it wasn’t bad, probably very good. He still didn’t know how Deniss could cook like this when he doesn’t, and never had, the same palate as humans.</p><p>“We’ve contacted Satton a couple of days ago, and she will also keep in touch with Liza.” Stéphane poked his steak with a fork, “Deniss, it’s unbelievably raw.”</p><p>Deniss’s spoon clinked with his plate, “A source of fresh blood. It’s the best human-vampire hybrid dish that I can come up with.”</p><p>Matilda chuckled. “I’m more interested in dessert, to be honest. Deniss sometimes is too creative and adventurous in cooking, but he never fails his dessert.” She pointed to the salad, “Deniss, what have you done to the dressing?”</p><p>“A spoon of jam, is it too sweet?” Deniss asked, “You know, my taste buds are slightly different, but any feedback is welcome.”</p><p>Matilda made a face, “To French Vinaigrette? Sacrilegious, Deniss.”</p><p>It was unusual, but at least it’s good. After everybody finished their main course, Deniss went to open the oven and a sweet scent suddenly filled the room. “A pie!” Stéphane cheered, “How early did you get up for this?”</p><p>Deniss sliced the pie, still fresh and warm from the oven, “I still…it’s confusing, I get up at three to prepare this, but yeah, I guess it’s early for a vampire.”</p><p>Koshiro had to do the last sign-off of their communication system, and Deniss would take the ‘night shift’ in case of any emergency. To be honest, it’s probably not a night shift for a vampire.</p><p>Shoma sat down in the lounge with Stéphane to run through all their arrangements once again, from his itineraries to the supplies and manpower, which he originally came for. “It’s so fast,” He said, “I can’t believe two months had passed.”</p><p>“Well, and your English improved significantly.” Stéphane pulled his hair-now a little bit too long-to one side, “Good luck back in Japan, we’ll try to keep in touch.”</p><p>Shoma nodded. “Thank you.” He scratched his head, messing up his black hair, “I…I don’t know what else to say, my English…” He made a gesture to say “a bit”, “but just, thank you. You and everyone here.”</p><p>“No worries, that’s the least we can help.” Stéphane patted the young man’s shoulders, “Have a safe trip tomorrow, and…give them my regards. My thoughts are with you and all of them.”</p><p>Shoma nodded. Maybe he didn’t really understand everything, but he knew it was a good wish. It’s enough.</p><p>“Stéph!” Heavy steps, and Koshiro ran up from the cellar. “There’s a message from Satton. Um, Shoma, maybe you want to come down to have a look?”</p><p>They immediately followed Koshiro downstairs. Deniss was already there, and a message was opened on one of the screens, and Shoma leaned in to read it.</p><p>“Emergency. Mey not be able to reciive you. S.”</p><p>Stéphane frowned. “Have you traced this message back?” He pointed to the glaring spelling mistakes, “Satton doesn’t usually make such mistakes.”</p><p>“I did, but only the basics. The device ID and encryption key are correct.” Koshiro opened another window, a myriad of codes which Shoma didn’t understand, “I’ve not done a full IP tracing yet.”</p><p>Stéphane nodded. “Deniss, contact Liza while Koshiro is tracing it. If it wasn’t from Satton, there must be a security breach. If it is from her…” He trailed off, but they knew what he was about to say. Neither of them sounds good.</p><p>“I’ll send her back a message using our system,” Shoma said, tapping away on his phone, “We have some codes and alias to confirm. If there’s no confirmation, or if it turns out to be wrong…” He paused. He didn’t know whether he should still go back. If something had happened to Satoko, he might be needed to take up the responsibility. But at the same time, if he couldn’t safely arrive in Japan, or if they’ve set up an ambush somewhere at the harbour, it’s too dangerous to move.</p><p>“Ultimately, the choice is yours.” Stéphane stood straight up and turned to Shoma, “I understand your commitments, but personally I’ll suggest you stay here, because it might not worth it to go back when there’s no one to receive you. Liza can only ensure safe arrival up to Siberia. There’s ways to work from here.”</p><p>Shoma didn’t answer immediately. He needed some time to think it through.</p><p>“Everything suggests that it come directly from Satton.” Koshiro stared at the screen, “I mean, unless somebody took her device, knew the codes and encryption, and knew how she signs off each message, which itself is a huge problem.”</p><p>“…I’ll wait until tomorrow morning, maybe 10 am?” Shoma said, “If nothing right comes back on my side…I’ll stay. Can we still call off all arranged supplies?”</p><p>“We can.” Matilda answered him, “They’re still in our hands. The first batch just left Finland, and we can ask Liza and Emmi to stop it now.”</p><p>“Go and sleep, Shoma. And you two, Koshiro and Matilda. Deniss will take the night shift with me.” Stéphane ordered, “You need rest. We can handle this.”</p><p>It was Stéphane’s authoritative voice. It’s rare for him to speak like this, but it’s effective because of this. Although kind and loving, he was the undisputed leader in the West European section.</p><p>They said goodnight to each other, and the cellar door closed. The three youngsters silently walked upstairs to their bedrooms.</p><p>“Stéph.” Deniss fall back into the armchair, covered his face with both palms, “I’m…scared, what if…”</p><p>“To be honest, I am as well.” Stéphane took a deep breath, “No one expected that.” He stood behind the armchair and bowed to give Deniss-and the back of the armchair-a hug, “I’ll be here with you tonight, and let’s…pray?” He suppressed a laugh, “Well, it seems that I could never be a real vampire.”</p><p>Deniss chuckled, with tears on his face. “I don’t know…can I pray to him?”</p><p>Stéphane kissed his hair. He knew who Deniss was refering to. “It doesn’t matter who you’re praying to, it doesn’t matter whom you believe in. Anything that’ll give you the peace of mind will do.”</p>
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